11:28 PM,
Nov. 29, 2012

More than 6,500 bear hunting permits have been issued for the state's bear hunt, which is scheduled to take placed next week.

Written by

Michael Izzo | Staff Writer

State officials said New Jersey's black bear management program is working, but the Bear Education and Resource Group isn't so sure.

The Department of Environmental Protection issued a report less than a week before a bear hunt is scheduled to begin stating that the number of bears in northwestern New Jersey is down from an estimated 3,400 to between 2,800 and 3,000.

Reported dangerous bear incidents are down 43 percent through the end of October compared to the same period in 2011, according to the DEP, which said that reported bear sightings are down 34 percent this year and damage and ...